Slip device and pack-off tool



Jan. 12, 1960 E. A. RODGERS SLIP DEVICE AND PACK-OFF TOOL:

2 Sheets-Shah. 1

Filed Sept. 24, 1956 INVENTOR. BY 5Z6 er-Z 4.]?0959'926 v 9/ H18 A 51V?Jan. 12, 1960 E. A. RODGERS sup DEVICE AND PACK-OFF TOOL Filed Sept. 24.1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. EJberfi ARocJj'eIfi; 9% I "76 HIS AGENI'special anchor rod, and without;

2,920,703 SLIP DEVICE AND PACK-OFF TOOL I Elbert A. Rodgers, Altus,Okla.- Application September 24, 1956, Serial No. 611,431

"3 Claims. (Cl. 160-121) This invention relates toirnprovements in slipdevices for use within pipe or tubing'in drilled wells, which slipdevices are usedfin connection with the'holding ofpaclrers, pack-offmembers, and flow control devices at a pre; determined position within apipe or tubing within a well, until it is desired to remove the slipdevice from or to relocate it within the pipe or tubing.

The device as shown in the accompanying drawings, together with amodification thereof, shows a slip device and pack-off tool which isused to perform various functions, among which is the maintaining of apack-off ele' ment, or a well flowing device within the tubing of an oilwell while the fluid is being produced therethrough, and this devicemaybe used in connection with holding such well flowing devices inflowing wells or in pumping wells .at a desired position within the welltubing, which well flowing device is described in my co-pendingapplication Ser. No. 605,006, filed August .20, 1956, for Liquid Leveland Pressure Control Valve-for Oil Wells.

Various tools for this purpose have been proposed heretofore, but these,for the most part,.require.d considerable' mechanism for the operationof the tool and to maintain the slips in locked position when set, andto enable the unlocking of the slips when it was desired to remove thetool from the well.

Anobject; of the present invention is to provide a slip device which maybe maintained in place without a complementary dovetail grooving.

Another-objectof this invention is tov provide a slip device. whereinthe slip may be readily removed from the device. and new slip jawsinserted therein, and when once inserted, in .the. tool, the. slipscannot be dislocated unless the. tool is disassembled.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a slip thatwill holda; tool, in the pipe or tubing, against movementin either up or downdirection.

.A still further objectv of the invention is to provide a slip that willhold a tool against movement in any direw tion until released.

'With' these objects in mind, and others which will become manifest .asthe description proceeds, reference is to be had to the. accompanyingdrawings, in which likereference characters designate like parts in theseveral views thereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a slip device and packofl tool, showinga quarter section removed therefrom to show the details. ofconstruction, and showing the slips in engaged position,.with a portionofarsetting tool shown in dashed outline; I

" Fig. 12 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking.in the direction indicated by the arrows;

'Fig. 3' is. a sectional view taken on the line .33 of Fig.4, lookingin. the direction-indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the. lined-4. of Fig. 3, looking inthe-direction indicated by the arrows;

.Fig. 5 is a fragmentary elevational' view of the upper portion of thetool with a quarter section removed, show- 2,920,703 reamed. Jan. 12,1960 2 ing the slips in, retracted position, and showing a pore tion of.a retrieving tool, in dashed outline, connected to the pack-01f tool; I

Fig. 6. is an elevational view showing the concave side of one of theslips. apart from the tool, and which view is on a larger scale thanshown in Figs. 1 and 5 Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but of amodified form of the. tool;

Fig, 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 88 of Fig- 7,, looking inthefdirection indicated by the arrows, and being on an enlarged scale; a

Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 7, looking in thedirection indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken on the line 1010 of; Fig.- 7, lookingin the direction indicated by the arrows; 1

Fig. 11 is. a sectional view taken on the line 11 11 of Fig. 7, lookingin the direction indicated by the arrows;.

Fig. 12 is a view similar form of the invention;

Fig. 13 is a perspective vicwof one of the slip elements shown apartfrom the. tool; and I Fig. 14 is a view of the concave side of-the slip,as shown in Fig. 13.

First form of invention to Fig. 5, but of the modified 1 The invention,as. shown in Figs. 1 through 6, has an elongated body portion. 1,. thelower end of which is reduced, as indicated at 2, to-fo'rm a cylindricalportion to receive cups 4and spacer elements 6 thereon. The lowerend ofthe Qylindrical portion 2 is threaded, as indicated at 8,. to receive'ain'ut 1,0 thereon, so as to cause spacer elements 6 to bindinglyengage cups 4 between the spacer elements and between thejuppermostspacer el ement and the shoulder. 12 onth e body 1 which cups areadaptedto seat within a pipe, tubing'or seating nipple, in a manner wellunderstood in the art of packers, and as is fully brought out in theabove identified co-penda ing application.

The body portion is flattened, as indicated at 14, so

as to enable the gripping thereof with holding tools, for assembly anddisassembly, as is well understood in the art. The intermediate portionof the body 1, between the. flattened portion 14 and the upper end 16,is tapered, as ingicated at 1 8. The taper is preferably. conical inshape, and is. adapted tocomplementarily receive slips, which aredesignatedgenerally at 20, thereon in peripheral. spaced-rel ionwithin ag 2...

The slips 2.0 have end Por ion 4, wh h x en ir m ch nd. there t into a.recess orm d within h ibor of g 22... which. wil ta n he s ps w t in t ee, ume sthe. age is r.-saue d rom h -body p i n. L. The-lo er; end prtions o the. l p are tap downw r ly an inw-a-rdl.y.-asindica e a 2 andin rfit in complementary, sliding relation with a downwardly and inw rly slopin Porti n. of th c ge 2. so wh n t cage. .22 moves upward, theslips will move from the position as shown in .Fig. 1 to that shown inFig. 5.

The concave portionof each of the slips is such as to fit. the conicaltaper 1.8,. of the body, when in the lowermost position, but when theslips are moved into the pper p s t o as. shown. n Fighe taper n tconial taper 18 and the taper f th e d. por n w ll be f lesser iameterthan the concr te-portion 30 of h Slips. which will pe mit the slip tolid fre ly without binding.- Ihe cas in has slot ed op n ng .32 thc sinithr ugh. which the.:s .i9 '-29-Pl'0it. but whi hs psare retainedasinstio s brand p tions. 24..

Whileaav pa temni tee h. on the. sl psimav e used he de red, is prerahle'to -...e-t e. h .3 t rned '11 one direction on one end of theslips, and the teeth direction, so as to maintain the pack-E toolagainst movement in either direction. The upper end portion 16, of thebody 1, has an annular groove 38 formed near the upper end thereof,which groove receives a clip ring 40 therein, which ring 40 serves as alock ring, so as to maintain the cage 22 on the reduced end portion 16of the body 1. The cage 22 has'an elongated neck 42 which extendsupwardly from the body portion thereof, and has a shoulder 44 formednear the upper end thereof, the purpose of which will be explained indetail hereinafter. The upper end of the neck portion 42 has a recessedportion 46 therein to complementarily engage clip ring 40,

as will best be seen in Fig. 5, which recess serves to pre* vent theclip ring 40 from spreading, while the tool is being removed from thewell, as will be brought out more in detail hereinafter.

The body portion 1 has an axial bore 52 therethrough which bore isthreaded, as indicated at 48 and 50 at the lower and upper endsrespectively, which threaded portions enable the connecting ofpipethereto, as will be brought out more in detail hereinafter. The axialbore 52 permits the passage of fluid therethrough, as is 'fully broughtout in the above identified application.

The present tool may be used to perform various functions such asmaintaining a bottom hole choke in place at the lower end of the tubing,maintaining a well flowing device in place, as set forth in the aboveidentified co-pending application, and for such other uses as slipdevices and pack-off tools are employed.

The device may be. set at a particular location within a tubing, pipe,or seating nipple by lowering the slip device and pack-off tool into thewell by the use of a setting tool 54. Setting tools are of varied designand common in the art, therefore, no specific setting tool will be setforth, except that the tool is shouldered, and that the shouldersthereof engage below clip ring 40 to lower the tool thereby, to thedesired depth, whereupon, a

pull upon the wire line, to which the setting tool'54 is attached, willcause the teeth 34 and 36 of the slips to bite into the wall of thetubing, pipe or seating nipple, as the case may be, so as to hold theslip and packolf device against movement ineither direction, and withthe cups 4 seating against the wall of the pipe or tubing, fluidpressure is maintained below the cups, which pressure is forced to passupward through axial bore 52, and through any tool or flow device whichis connected thereto.

Occasionally it is desirable to seat the tool into a pipe or tubing bymeans of a pipe or rod, to prevent the tool from being blown from thewell, in which event, the pipe or rod is screwed into threadedconnection 50, and the tool islowered to the particular position in thetubing desired, then a sudden upward pull is given to the pipe or rod,which will lock the teeth 34 and 36 within the tubing of the well,whereupon, the pipe may be unscrewed from the threaded connection 50 andremoved; The threads 50 may be either right or left hand threads, but ifa right hand threaded string of pipe is used,it is preferable that thethreads of the connection 50 be left hand threads. However, if thethreads of the member 50 are right hand threads, and the threads on thesetting pipe are right hand threads, the pipe engaging the threads 4 5flowed up in the pipe connected to the threaded connection 50.

With the slips 20 each having certain of the teeth 34 turned in onedirection and certain of the teeth turned in the opposite direction,theslip device and pack-ofi tool is maintained against movement bypressure, in an upward direction, as the reaction on cups 4, bypressure, will move tapered member 18 upward to cause the slips 20 tomove outward. However, any weight applied above cage 22, will cause theteeth 36 to maintain the tool against moving downward. If the slipdevice and pack-off member has been set by a wire line, the setting toolmay be removed therefrom in a conventional manner, such as by athree-count ratchet disconnect device, which will disengage the tool andleave it set as the desired level. I

When it is desired to remove the pack-off tool from the tubing, aremoving tool, having jaws 56, is designed to slip over enlarged endshoulder portion 44, so as to engage below the shoulder 44, as shown indashed outline in Fig. 5, whereupon, a sudden upward pull will cause thelower tapered portion 28 of cage 22't'o act against the tapered portion26 of the slips 20, which will urge the slips upward, and since thetaper is of reneed not be made up tighton the pipe, which will enablethe unscrewing of the pipe without loosening the intermediate threadedjoints of the setting pipe.

It is also desirable, at times, to produce oil separately from difierentstrata in the well, therefore, with a packofi tool as shown herein, aseal may be made within the tubing intermediate the producing zones, anda string of pipe screwthreaded into screwthreaded connection 50 toenable the flowing of the fluid below the cups to the top of the well.However,the tubing above the'cups 4 may be perforated, and oil or gasflowed to'the top of the well separately and independently of the fluidbeing duced size, the slips Will'move inward from the position as shownin Fig. l to that shown inFig. 5, thereby enabling the tool to bereadily removed from the well, as the upper end portion 42 of the cage22 engages below clip ring 40 to move the body portion 1 upward,together with the cups and other apparatuses or elements connectedtherewith. The annular recess 46 surrounds clip ring 40 and preventsthis ring from spread- A pipe may be screw threaded into threadedconnection 48 and to a well flowing device, such as described in theabove entitled co-pending application, or such other device as a bottomhole choke, oil and gas separator or the like may be connected thereto.

vModified form of invention The form of the invention, as shown in Figs.7 through 14, is so constructed that, when once set, the teeth of thegripping slips will grip the inside of the pipe, tubing or the like, soas'to prevent the movement of the holding tool in' any direction, up,down or in a rotary movement relative to the tubing.

The invention, as disclosed in Figs. 7 through -14, has an elongatedbody portion designated generally at 1, and which has the lower endthereof reduced, in substantially the same manner as is the elongatedbody of the aforementioned form of the invention. In fact, the entirebody assembly, comprising the elongated body 1, reduced end portion 2,cups 4, and spacer elements 6, is substantially identical with theaforementioned form of the invention. The lower reducedend portion ofbody 1 is threaded, as indicated at 8, to receive a nut 10 thereon.

When the cups 4 and spacer elements 6 are assembled and secured in placeby means of nut 10, a packing unit is formed, which seats within theinside of a seating nipple or tubing to form a seal therewith.

The elongated body 1 has a shoulder12 thereon for the uppermost of thecups to seat against. A flattened portion 14, is provided on the body 1,which enables a wrench to be fitted thereon for holding the bodyportionagainst relative rotation, upon turning nut 10. r

The upper end portion of the body 1 is reduced, as is indicated at 16,with a tapered portion 18 intermediate the enlarged portion of the bodyand the reduced end portion 16. Slips, designated generally at 70,interfit within round holes 82 formed within cage 72. The holes 82,formed in the cage 72, are circumferentially spacedtherearound and eachof the holes has the'axis thereof lying'within a longitudinal planeradiating from the'axis of cage 72, which cage is coaxial with thebody 1. The axis of the holes 82 slope downwardly and inwardly towardthe axis of body 1 and are of the same complemental angle of the slopeof axis of slips 70. The portion of the slips 70 which project throughthe respective holes 82, is complementary with respect to the hole, sothe slips will have a normal tendency to fall, by gravity, from theposition as shown in Fig. 7, to the position as shown in Fig. 12, whenthe cage 72 is moved upward. The body portion of each slip has aprojection 74 above and below and on each side of the cylindrical bodyportion of the slip. The inside portion of each slip is concave, asindicated at 80. The concave portion 80 is in complementary fittingrelation with the taper 18 on body 1, when the cage 72 is in thelowermost position, as shown in Fig. 7. However, when the cage is in theuppermost position, as shown in Fig. 12, the slips 70 will move inwardso that the teeth 84 will retract within the outer cylindrical confinesof cage 72.

The form of the invention, as shown in Figs. 7 through 14, preferablyhas two or more rows of circumferentially arranged slips, the slips ofone row being staggered longitudinally with respect to the slips in theadjacent row, as shown in Figs. 7, 8, 9, and 12, with the teeth 84preferably being in the form of a pyramid, which tends to hold the toolagainst movement in any direction, when the teeth are properly set.

With the holes 82, in the cage, being drilled at an angle to slopeinwardly and downwardly, the slips will readily retract when the cage 72is moved upward.

The other component parts of the tool, together with the manner ofsetting thereof and removing same are substantially the same as for theform shown in Figs. 1 through 5, and described above, with the exceptionthat the slips and the complementary portion of the slip holding cage.

Setting and removing operation To set the slip device and pack-offelement in a well having tubing, pipe, or a seating nipple therein, andwith a flow device, or the like, connected thereto by threadedconnection 48, the device may be lowered into the well on a wire linelowering tool 54, or it may be lowered on the end of a rod screwed intothreaded connection 50 in axial bore 52, whereupon, if a rod or threadedpipe is used for lowering the slip device and pack-01f element into thewell, and after the device is set, the pipe or rod may be unscrewed, inthe same manner as in the aforementioned form of the invention. Toremove the slip device and pack-ofi element, a tool having prongs 56thereon, of such size and shape as to engage shouldered portion 44, islowered into the well on a wire line, pipe or rod, whereupon, the prongs56 engage below shouldered portion 44 so that the cage is moved upwarduntil the slips 70 recede inward on tapered portion 18 of the body 1,until the slip teeth 84 6 disengage from the inner wall of the tubing,seating nipple or the like.

Having thus clearly shown and described the invention, what is claimedas new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A well device, including an elongated, main body portion, theintermediate portion of said body portion being of a general cylindricalconfiguration and of larger diameter than the adjacent portions of saidmain body portion, the lower portion of said body portion of largerdiameter intermediate portion and the lower end thereof beingcylindrical in shape, which cylindrical portion is adapted to receivepacking cups and spacers thereon, threaded means threadably engagingsaid lower cylindrical portion to hold said cups in binding relationupon said cylindrical body portion, said body portion intermediate 'saidportion of larger diameter and the upper.

end ofsaid main body being tapered for a portion of the length thereof,the portion of said body above said tapered portion being cylindrical,slip members fitted in complementary relation onthe tapered portion ofsaid body, the body portion of saidv slip membersbeing substantiallycylindrical in shape and having the respective axes thereof lying withinlongitudinal planes, the axes of which converge inwardly and downwardly,the cylindrical body portion of each of said slip members havingoutwardly projecting teeth thereon, an apertured cage telescoped oversaid cylindrical upper end portion of said body in complementary slidingrelation, a portion of said cage having lateral, cylindrical aperturesformed therein, the axes of which apertures converge inwardly anddownwardly, said last mentioned portion of said cage fitting over saidtapered portion of said body, said cylindrical portion of said slipmembers extending through the respective lateral apertures in said cagein complementary sliding relation with respect thereto so that saidslips'extend out through apertures in said cage,'stop means'on saidupper cylindrical portion of said body intermediate said tapered portionand the end of said cylindrical portion, to arrest the upward movementof said cage at .a predetermined position.

2. The device as defined in claim 1, wherein said cage has amultiplicity of apertures formed therein inofiset longitudinal relationwith respect to certain other apertures formed therein.

3. The device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said teeth of said slipsare pyramidal in form.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Bakerp Mar. 19,1957

